


that peace like a river

by Broskiro



Series: like Theseus's ship, we'll fix the busted bits [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: !!!, Child Marriage, DAY THREE BROS, Day Three: Childhood, F/M, Five and Vanya get married as children, Five is pining, Five's a flustered mess, Fiveya Week, I present to you another part of the rewrite, Its not incest if you understand fiveya, Light Angst, Maybe - Freeform, Pseudo-Incest, Vanya's lowkey crushing, as I've already said I'll organize it later, featuring drum roll please, i can explain, i just googled some vows and called it a night, i've hinted at it in the first two days, ill feel real weird if child marriage wasn't as frequent as I thought, no i will not be accepting criticism, not me though, oh and, part one, she knows what shes doing, someone please tell me they remember getting married as a child, well you're lying, you're gonna tell me those kids didn't have cliques and events in that house?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:40:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27372055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Broskiro/pseuds/Broskiro
Summary: They get married in the small corner of the garden, situated under the shade of the big tree with their knees tucked under them. They are merely children, and only one of them understands the full concept of matrimony, of joining hands and promising to keep hold of that hand for the rest of their lives. It’s but a fleeting thing, but to Five, it means so much more.______________________In which Five and Vanya get married. As children, of course.(Fiveya Week - Day Three - Childhood)
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves
Series: like Theseus's ship, we'll fix the busted bits [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995817
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37





	that peace like a river

**Author's Note:**

> Or Alternatively named: Promise. 
> 
> Hello, and welcome to day three of Fiveya Week 2020. I am currently having my ass handed by the remainder of the prompts, but really, fancy seeing you here. 
> 
> I will now try to redeem myself. 😭💀
> 
> Ummm, one: you're lying to me if you don't think the Hargreeves children held events while their father was away. And even then, they probs had some in secret. Now two: as a child, kids were getting married left and right. I was attending weddings every day, it was ridiculous. There are only three reasons why you might not have gotten married as a child; 1) you were ugly (like me), 2) you were hyper fixated on something else that made marriage appear unimportant (also like me), or 3) I attended really weird elementary schools (which is also true). 
> 
> Anyway, whatever. None of that matters. Please enjoy day three of Fiveya week.

They get married in the small corner of the garden, situated under the shade of the big tree with their knees tucked under them. They are merely children, and only one of them understands the full concept of matrimony, of joining hands and promising to keep hold of that hand for the rest of their lives. It’s but a fleeting thing, but to Five, it means so much more. 

Being raised in a cult —he refuses to call the Umbrella Academy anything but— has led Five to give up many of life’s expectations. School, friends, travel, all of it provided in this cold house on a crack silver platter, fulfilled with these people who weren’t worth even a smidge of his day. It has made him bitter, if you will, rotting him from the inside out, but Five prevails, waking every morning and going to sleep every night. 

One day though, his relationship with Vanya, the outcast of their sorry cult, blooms, and he finds that out of all the people in this sad excuse for a home, Vanya is the most interesting. She is cute, adorable even, with the way her nose scrunches up when she laughs, a sound Five finds he quite enjoys, and she is majestic, her fingers talented as she performs with her violin, lost in the music, and sometimes, she will allow him to sit in and listen, losing himself in her rhythm too. 

And eventually, when they know each other practically inside out, Five finds that he is nothing short of in love with her. She keeps him from decaying, preserving the life of him. And he in turn knows everything about her, about her favorite foods; donuts: jelly-filled, about her favorite music pieces to play; anything Vivaldi, she says, smiling at him, even about all her hiding spots and resting places. She is his, short to say, and he would never let her go. 

Vanya drags him outside one day, during free period, the one time of day they always spend together, no matter how awful or amazing either of their days went. Free period was their time, and Five would be damned if he was stripped of it. They approach the tree that sits in the corner of the yard, brown and thick, its branches filled with green leaves as the sun shines down on them, making Vanya glow as she sits before him. 

He takes a seat in front of her, on his knees, basking in her warmth, before she smiles up at him, taking his hand and doing something he never could’ve imagined. 

She slides a ring on, the black circlet sitting on his finger, and he inhales sharply, staring incredulously as she slides a ring of the same kind on her own hand, her cheeks painted a light pink. 

It takes him a while to speak, before he stutters out some words, face practically on fire as his head pounds with the implications. “Vanya, what are you doing?”

“We’re getting married!” She smiles, giggling up at him through her bangs, her brown orbs reflecting the sun, glimmering with life, and Five curses, a fluttering mess before her. Her eyes drop, a frown gracing her features before she gazes at her, practically begging with her eyes, “Unless… you don’t want to?”

She is bashful, coy even, as Five stumbles. His heart leaps, insides tossing and turning, and he is a boy on fire, body burning with passion as he nods, frantic. “I want to.”

She grins, toothy and wide, a smile only reserved for him, and Five falls even harder as wind brushes past, her hair swaying in the summer sun. 

Suddenly, her hands are clasped in his, and Five is left staring at her. The her who tucks a hair behind her ear, her eyes closed as she recites famous words. 

“I, Vanya Hargreeves, take Five Hargreeves, to be my lawfully wedded husband.” And _oh_ \- Five breathes, voice caught in his throat. Her lips move gracefully, the pink of her lips mouthing these binding words, and in it all, Five finds no problems. He is a madman, twitching in anticipation while the voice in the back of his head screams at him, telling him that he is not worthy of the good that is Vanya, that she doesn’t know what she’s getting into. 

“To have and to hold from this day forward,” And Five’s heart lurches, jumping in his chest as she continues the vows. He shakes his head, watching the leaves rustle from above, falling and soaring past them, _Vanya wanted to do this. Vanya_ wanted to marry _him._ She glows as she prattles off the words, absolutely stunning in her uniform as he locks his eyes on her, on the way her lips move, tripping once or twice as she stumbles over the words. Her hands are sweaty in his own, and Five chuckles, bitter but happy as he settles his nerves. 

“For better,” She begins, opening an eye and instantly shutting it close when she sees just how intensely he peers at her. 

“For worse,” Five gulps, pushing down the part of him that rejoices. Vanya probably had no clue what any of this meant, what these vows would mean. He does though, understand just what marriage means, how serious of a task it is. But with Vanya, he was sure it would be easy, for he had and never will tolerate someone enough to marry them as much as he tolerates Vanya. — Five doesn’t just tolerate her, though. He much enjoys her company, loves it, honestly. He would do anything for her, live a thousand lives, die a thousand deaths. He wants her, aches for her in a way she’ll never understand, not yet, at least. —

“For richer, for poorer,” Five chuckles at that. They were raised by a multi-billionaire, anyone could tell they’d be pretty well off when the old man croaks. 

“In sickness and in health,” She pauses momentarily, stalling the next words as Five sits in aching silence. He knows what they are, can barely hold still, knowing that as she draws closer and closer to the end of her vows, a promise is being made, one that he will be sure to keep, no matter the cost.

“To love and to cherish,” Vanya breathes, cheeks lighting, growing slightly pink. _And gods, she is adorable._

She opens her eyes, deep russet meeting blue-green, as she speaks the last five words, a small smile on her face as she whispers, “Till death do us part.”

Five exhales heavily, brows furrowed as she tilts her head, before his cheeks explode, surely a crimson red, and he can’t take his eyes off of her, “Why… Why would you do that?”

She tilts her head, mischief glittering as she shrugs, “I wanted to marry you.”

He gasps, _wincing_ , _cursing_ , concealing his face from her view with both hands, reduced to a mess in front of her. He laughs, shaky, body aflame, burning with affection, before he fixes his stance, settling on his knees once more, before he holds out sweaty palms, searching between her confused features. 

“My vows.” He pretends to scowl, feigning boredom, trying his hardest to hide the way he wants to scream when the cold of her palms interlock with his own warmth, melding together in perfect unison, creating the perfect balance between hot and cold, as she readies herself, shutting her eyes once more. 

“I, Five Hargreeves, take you, Vanya Hargreeves, to be my wife." He begins, steeling his heart, holding a tight grip over the bundle of nerves that bounce around in his stomach. Five makes a point to rush through them, snarky as he jokes, an attempt to lighten the mood, "With or without the law, of course.” 

Vanya’s eyes snap open, frowning as a crease forms between her brows. “That’s not the vows.” 

He returns the gesture, reinforcing his words, “Yeah, well, they’re mine. Take it or leave it.” 

She sighs, defeated, shutting her eyes once more, something Five wishes she wouldn’t do. He wants to see her, _all of her,_ wants to bathe in her, drown in her, wants to give her everything he has in hopes that she would see just how much he _longed_ for her, how he _ached_ for her. Vanya was his everything, and even if she was making a mistake by committing to only him, he doesn’t mind in the slightest. She is clueless, unsuspecting of the way Five would be sure to hold this promise over her forever, making sure that she never forgets how eager she was to wed. He was _obsessed,_ and Vanya was merely fueling the fire within him. 

He speaks fast, ducking his head, refusing to look at her, afraid that if he does, all the words would be imprisoned in his chest, resounding through his head as he remains awestruck, breath taken at the alluringness that was Vanya. He promises his entire existence to her, the same way she had done to him. — He misses the way her face flushes, eyes cracking open, burning holes in their entangled fingers while pride swells in her own chest. —

“To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.” Five swallows, before he lets a silly grin escape, sprinting through his vows. He could take the time to personalize them, make them truly his, but tells himself that he has all the time in the world, already imagining what their lives would be like once they finally escaped from this hellish confinement. 

They’d be together, always. They’d get an apartment together, maybe go out of New York if she truly wanted to. Would sleep in the same bed, absorbing each other's warmth on cold nights, reaching out for each other on the hot ones too, but Five would hug her close no matter the temperature. Vanya would make him coffee, and Five would work on his equations, and he’d see her off to work before heading to his own job, maybe a research facility or a local college. They’d have a dog too, one that they would cherish, give it some cheesy name that they’d eventually regret, but laugh about when in public.

With those words, the wind rustles, a pledge hanging in the air, and as the leaves pass by, cool settling in, they both grin, content. The world slows around them as they link their pinkies together, reveling in each other’s presence, before Grace calls them in, announcing the end of free period.

  
  


* * *

  
  


He doesn’t keep his promise, neither of them do actually, but Five’s betrayal hurts for the both of them. 

He leaves one day, and all that is left of him is a knife mark in a wooden table and a girl who constantly waits, setting out his favorite sandwich and leaving the lights on. 

* * *

Unbeknownst to her, he is trapped in purgatory, no longer able to teleport between space and time, unable to make it back to her. The world burns around him, agony filling his chest as he views the wreckage of his only home. 

Smoke fills his lungs and instantly, he breaks away, rushing through the gates of the Academy, searching among the rubble. And soon, he comes face to face with that tree, the same tree that comes and goes, growing and dying come every new winter, only to find it snapped in half, just as demolished as the rest of the planet, broken as smoke rises from it. He had gotten married under this tree, a silly childhood promise sure, but he had held it — her — close, gripping it with so much strength he was sure to never lose it. He had made a promise under this tree, swearing to love and protect the one person he cared for the most, and even then, he couldn’t keep it, too wrapped up in his own selfish recklessness to hear her calling out to him, begging for him to come back. 

He touches a hand to it, palm connecting with its sturdy wood, and Five shatters, gasping as tears roll down his cheeks. Vanya was gone. His family was gone, and his father was right. He never should’ve time-traveled, for he had gotten stuck, and now Vanya would have to live without him. 

It takes him a while to search the decay, but Five gets to it eventually. Bodies are littered among the destruction, four with markings that match his too much for his liking. He doesn’t find a fifth, nor is he able to locate a sixth, and dread fills him the same time hope does, before reality settles in, and Five is aware that he isn’t dreaming. That he’s fucking stuck in the rubble of the world with only one date, April first, twenty-nineteen. 

* * *

Vanya waits for him as long as she can, calling out to him on her most depressing of days. Sometimes, — most times, actually, nearly every day, in fact— she will carry her ring with her, a silent promise as she rejects all potential lovers. Vanya waits for Five, — her husband, she winces, inhaling sharply as the memories of her antics resurface. She is embarrassed for ever doing such a thing, though a part of her is content, happy even, that she had managed to stake a claim on her schoolgirl crush, marveling at the fact that he had even let her get away with it. — seventeen years and counting, each full rotation around the sun reminding her of her cruel fate, of a boy that will never return and a girl who will never move on. 

* * *

He comes back to her years later, in a body that is _wrong_. He waits forty-five years for her, a worn-down black ring in his pocket and her book in the other, alongside an eye that will aid him in his search.

He waits forty-five years, and she, seventeen; holding onto their promise. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it this far, you've complete the atrocity that was this fic. I really enjoyed writing this for day three, but I'm still very conscious of my work. (Anyway, whatever, that's not important.)
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! Happy day three! Have a great rest of your day!
> 
> Peace out! ✌️


End file.
